2 dead, 1 wounded in Calif. pot farm shootings

FRESNO, Calif. 
Two brothers shot dead at a medical marijuana processing site near the small farming community of Pixley became the fourth and fifth pot-related homicides this year in rural Tulare County, known more for its prolific dairies.

The Tulare County Sheriff's Office is investigating whether the operators of the site had the paperwork in place to make the facility legal under state medical marijuana laws.

Sgt. Chris Douglass said the victims - Moises Padilla, 22, and Antonio Padilla, 28 - worked at the site and were shot after an argument. A suspect is in custody and was being questioned Monday morning, she said.

A third man, Damion Campos-Martinez, was treated and released for a leg wound.

"They weren't going there to steal," Douglass said. "It was a work-related issue. Exactly what they argued over is still a part of the investigation."

The killings Saturday night were the latest in what has become an increasingly dangerous occupation as growers come out of the desolate Sierra Nevada mountains and use California's 1996 landmark ballot measure to grow marijuana on prime farmland by bundling together the permits of multiple people. In Fresno County alone, the number of large farms rose to 121 in 2011, up from 37 in 2010.

Marijuana can sell for thousands of dollars a pound, making it by weight the most valuable cash crop in the state.

Tulare, Kern and Fresno counties are home to some of the most fertile farmland in the nation, and all three counties have experienced marijuana-related violent incidents this year. Last month, a man was shot and killed in Tulare County when he went outside to investigate a noise and found someone stealing his plants.

Pixley, home to about 3,300 people and located 60 miles south of Fresno, is best known for being the location of some on-scene filming for the 1960s sitcom, "Petticoat Junction."